back to reality

If reality means swimming five nights a week! Today marked the end of the break for the Nationals swimmers, so Megan was back to the pool tonight. I agreed to take her, along with a friend, to the wake for the poor boy who died, right after school. It worked out pretty well that way, neither one of them was too happy about going, obviously. And, of course, they waked him in an open casket, but that wasn't a huge surprise. It's terrible to think that, two years ago, he was graduating 8th grade, like Brian will in a couple of months, and the future was bright ahead of him.

I looked back at a four-year-old preschool picture of Megan's, and there he was, right up front, with a big goofy smile. I had a feeling he might have been in her class, but I didn't remember the boys, and because of where he lived, he went to different elementary and middle schools, and only happened back with Megan in high school, where she met him in drama class and briefly at swim team, before he was diagnosed and stopped going to school due to daily chemo treatments. It is heartbreaking. I didn't go into the funeral home, their lot was full anyway, but Megan and her friend were in and out. From what I understand, there were huge long lines tonight, as most of the students found it easier to attend in the evening.

And along those lines of gloom and doom, we watch with trepidation the swine flu. 20+ kids in a Queens high school, and where do their parents work? Manhattan, for sure! Those people have been exposed, and now they're exposing others - how can they contain it? And they screen airline passengers for what?? Fevers? When is a virus most contagious? Usually before the fever? That's what I always understood. So for a cyberchondriac this is not a good thing. And then they fly Air Force One down through lower Manhattan. Way to go, USA.

Anyway, I am working tomorrow morning. I had to turn down a two day assignment for today and tomorrow so I could drive Megan and her friend to the wake, but that was OK, I got a lot done today. It's supposed to be really hot again tomorrow, too, and Brian starts his state testing at school. He has a stiff neck, but I attribute that to the 30 hour famine, when they camped out on the ground in the cold night. I've been giving him advil and just hoping for the best. He was also exposed to mono while we were in Florida, but what can you do about that? I guess mono is just everywhere. And he didn't have close contact, just casual. Thankfully, he is a germaphobe, or he would have shared a drink with the mono-carrier. The mom told me that he had said no, that he doesn't share drinks with anyone, and that was before the kid woke up with a huge lump on the side of his head

But in other news, I went to the pet store today and bought some mousies. When I came home, I heard an ominous sound and worried that Megan was upstairs breathing her last for some reason. I looked around and found Puff, the unassuming little white cotton ball cat, with the mousie in her mouth, trying to be all scary to fend off any would- be thieves of her prey! (I had given it to Rusty, because he is a mousie fan too) It was very cute. Oh, and as for the Europe trip, I am still mulling over my options. But being the alarmist that I am, I'm sort of waiting to see what happens with this pigflu first.